Vice presidential candidate K.H. Ma\'ruf Amin (left) and vice presidential candidate Sandiaga Uno (right) take part in the third round of the presidential debates on Sunday (3/17/2019) at the Sultan Hotel, Jakarta.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The third round of debates in the 2019 presidential election between vice-presidential candidates Ma\'ruf Amin and Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno on Sunday failed to show any dynamics in the exchange of arguments.
Although the two vice presidential candidates were able to elaborate on a number of ideas, their presentations were still too general to be able to answer public skepticism.
The debate held by the General Election Commission and Trans Media Television Group covered the issues of education, employment, health, social matters and culture. Throughout the debate, which lasted about two hours and was divided into six segments, Kompas R & D data showed that the two vice presidential candidates criticized each other only seven times like, for example, when Amin proposed forming a national research agency.
Sandi criticized the idea, saying the agency would only add to the bureaucracy. Amin then responded that the program would not add new institutions, but only to unite and streamline existing research institutions.
Two important issues
The results of the Kompas R & D survey conducted on March 13 and 14 involving 528 respondents in 16 major cities in Indonesia showed that education (38.1 percent) and employment (32.2 percent) were the themes considered by respondents as the most urgent to be resolved by the vice presidential candidates.
The poll also showed the respondents were skeptical that the candidates could solve the problems of providing equal education facilities and services and employment opportunities. Between 30 and 49 percent of the respondents said they were not sure that either Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Amin ticket or Prabowo Subianto and Sandi could improve the conditions of the two issues if they were elected.
In the debate, Amin said to create new jobs he would encourage the development of startups that could provide employment. He said he would also revitalize vocational high schools, polytechnics and academies.
In the field of education, Amin said he would form a national research body, encourage joint research by the government and the business and industrial world and provide scholarships to college students.
Meanwhile, Sandi said he would increase research and technology funding and encourage research funding collaboration with the business world. Sandi said he would also replace the national exam system with educational programs based on interest and talent.
In the field of employment, he said he plans to encourage the development of micro, small and medium enterprises to provide employment and to promote linked and matching programs between the educational and the industrial sectors in order to be able to produce skilled workers.
The director of the University of Indonesia\'s center for political studies, Aditya Perdana, said the exchange of ideas between the two vice presidential candidates revealed the substance of the debate theme. However, he said there was no debate over the ideas they presented.
"There are new ideas being displayed, but neither of them criticized each other\'s ideas," he said.
Firman Noor, the head of the political research center of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, said that the ideas presented by the two vice presidential candidates were quite good. Therefore, he stressed, the ideas need to be further disseminated to the public in the remaining campaign period.
Not detailed
However, a number of observers of education and employment said that the ideas conveyed by the two vice presidential candidates were not detailed. The executive secretary of the Indonesia Labor Institute, Andy W. Sinaga, said that the two vice presidential candidates’ programs were almost identical. Differences occurred only in the selection of the words used to express the ideas, he said.
No program is special. "The presidential and vice presidential employment program should be oriented to the grassroots. Their Implementation should be fast and reach its target, not just wasting of state funds," said Andy.
Meanwhile, regarding the issue of education, Amin and Sandi seemed to be oriented toward materialistic and short-term programs. In fact, the main purpose of education is to build human beings.
The director of the Anak Akar Studio, Susilo Adinegoro, said the debate was only "selling" for electoral interests. No one discussed the philosophy of national development in which the empowerment of human resources is the key.
A similar opinion was expressed by a Jakarta State University’s education professor, Fasli Jalal. "It is impossible to develop research and innovation without the ability to carry out sophisticated thinking. The problem is that sophisticated thinking skills that should be fostered in primary and secondary education are not,” he said.
He criticized the two vice presidential candidates for their short-sighted views of only reducing unemployment.
True education does not teach skills that would be out of date as technology changes. Education is to develop lifelong learning and individuals who understand and care about the importance of increasing competence. (SAN/AGE/DNE/MED)
